Tree stump offers a grinding problem

The maple tree Dick and Ellen Barber planted in the yard of their new Colonie home 40 years ago served their family well, drinking up excess moisture in the soil and shading their house on hot summer days.

But the tree’s height and proximity to the house recently began to worry Dick, especially after he saw other trees and branches come crashing down in last winter’s ice storm. So, this spring, the retired couple hired a tree service to take down the old maple and called in another contractor recommended by their son to remove the stump.

Now, they’re fuming that the remains of the stump still lurk a scant inch below the surface and are kicking themselves for taking the last phase of the job so casually. They’re out $270, struggling to grow grass on that spot and have lost count of how many messages they’ve left on the Scotia contractor’s answering machine asking him to do the right thing and finish the job.

The contractor, meanwhile, says he did exactly what he was hired to do.

With so much of the stump left, the Barbers expect it to rot away gradually, feeding generations of mushrooms and creating a new sink hole after each fresh layer of soil and seed is applied.

“What bugs me the most is being taken,” said Dick.

“We thought we were not susceptible,” Ellen added.

They trace the root of their dissatisfaction, in part, to bad timing.

The Barbers and the contractor, Bernie Kuczek Jr. of Twin Swan Tree Service and Stump Removal in Scotia, hadn’t set a specific date for the work in April. As it happened, Kuczek arrived just as the Barbers were leaving for an appointment with Ellen’s eye doctor.

When they returned, they were surprised to find that the work appeared complete and Kuczek was gone. They saw no stump and later sent a check for $270, including tax, to Twin Swan.

Then, “in May, I kept seeing this puddle of water where the stump had been,” Dick recalled. A closer look revealed that the stump surface was only about an inch below the yard surface, and Dick called to complain.

This is where the Barbers’ account starts to differ sharply with Kuczek’s. Dick Barber says Kuczek first called back to say he’d be back by the end of the week to take out more of the stump. Kuczek says he made no such promise and said only “we always put our best foot forward.”

“We met that request at the price we agreed on,” Kuczek told me. “Now, he’s asking us to do more work for free.”

Kuczek said he warned Barber that he’d need to bring in topsoil if he wanted grass to grow over the remains of the huge stump. “Our stump grinder doesn’t grind dirt. It’s not a grading machine,” he said, but “we raked it off nice and it was contoured beautifully.”

This seems like a case in which basic buyer-beware precautions and good faith customer service could have saved grief for both the Barbers and Kuczek.

Perhaps because Kuczek was recommended by their son, the Barbers skipped steps that consumer advocates recommend. They didn’t get a detailed written estimate or contract, which could have helped establish now what was agreed to then. As they ­acknowledge, they should have checked to ensure that they were satisfied before paying. Keeping a log of all their follow-up calls to Twin Swan also would have been a good idea.

For his part, Kuczek shouldn’t have blown off the Barbers’ calls, even if they had already paid him. Amazingly, even when he talked to me, he still wouldn’t commit to returning to Dick Barber’s yard to discuss a resolution.

“I don’t mind working with him,” Kuczak said, but only “if he’s willing to work with me.”

I asked around a bit about stump removal standards. What I learned reinforced my belief that it’s important to detail expectations in writing, though I’m told that’s not common for such jobs.

“You do want to get the stump out as far below the grade as you can,” said David Chinery, a Cornell Cooperative Extension educator for Rensselaer County. “Nobody wants a hole in their lawn. That’s as bad as a stump. To grow grass, you would like at least 3 or 4 inches of soil, and if you had 6 or 8 inches, that would be good.”

Chinery said he’s had many stumps removed from his own property and the depth has varied quite a bit from tree to tree.

Chuck Maynard, a professor who teaches arborculture at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, found no industry standard but said a contractor told him 3-to-4 inches below grade is routine to make sure a topsoil layer will support new grass.

The Barbers’ backyard neighbor, Ron Gruhn, said a contractor that removed a maple stump on his property went much farther, even tunneling down to grind out roots — and Gruhn watched him do it.

“Any time I have anything done, I stand there,” he said.

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